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Stefano Hatfield

Stefano Hatfield

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A 12-hour school day won’t solve the problem of smartphones

At school this week, I set a standard creative writing challenge. It was a “show, don’t tell” descriptive writing exercise. My year 10s (14- to...

previous day 20

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Stefano Hatfield

We don't need Liz Truss's book when our bills still show the consequences

The definition of chutzpah is “extreme self-confidence or audacity”. Helpfully, dictionaries often include an exemplar alongside definitions to...

14.04.2024 3

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Stefano Hatfield

No theatre can justify £275 for a ticket

Since becoming an English teacher and no longer working late evenings as an editor, I’ve been able to reconnect with my great love of live...

07.04.2024 6

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Stefano Hatfield

The state of Britain's rivers are a national shame after the Boat Race

The venerable 195-year-old Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race constitutes an unlikely addition to Broken Britain’s 2024 list of shame. I am not highlighting...

31.03.2024 4

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Stefano Hatfield

I can’t be ill any more without being accused of having ‘man flu’

I have “the 100-day cough”. I’m hoping the “100-day” bit is a media construct and it won’t last that long, but the cough bit has persisted...

24.03.2024 3

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Stefano Hatfield

Charlie from Casualty should have quit much sooner - jobs for life are sad

The actor Derek Thompson’s departure from the BBC soap Casualty this weekend was truly shocking. Not because his character, Charlie Fairhead, diced...

17.03.2024 3

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Stefano Hatfield

Age is just a number. But not when it comes to Biden, Trump and Murdoch

Since January, I’ve been hobbling around – despite orthotics, lifts and trendy, cushioned Hoka trainers – suffering from Achilles tendonitis....

10.03.2024 5

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Stefano Hatfield

What I learnt about tax from a conversation with a Fulham fan

When Benjamin Franklin remarked that, “in this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”, the great American statesman...

03.03.2024 4

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Stefano Hatfield

I have been knocked sideways by the death of a teacher who inspired me

In words not often written: I shed a little tear this week at a message from someone wishing to connect with me on LinkedIn. Laura, the daughter of a...

26.02.2024 5

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Stefano Hatfield

My advice for the English National Opera performers, made redundant mid-performance

Have you ever been made redundant? Or made anyone redundant? The chances are that you will not have given or received notice mid-way through a task...

18.02.2024 7

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Stefano Hatfield

Gregg Wallace’s blunder is a lesson for us all

Poor Gregg Wallace: three words not often written in sequence. They are oxymoronic, not only because the Masterchef judge has been a well-remunerated...

11.02.2024 5

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Stefano Hatfield

Gillian Keegan’s teacher apprenticeships ignores the elephant in the room

How many of you know a SCITT from a PGCE, an NQT from an ECT, a TA from someone with QTS? Unless you work in education, few readers will know these...

04.02.2024 5

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Stefano Hatfield

I've done Dry January for 29 years - pubs will have to change or die

It’s been the driest of Januaries for struggling pubs, according to reports today. As I come to the end of my 29th year of not drinking alcohol in...

28.01.2024 8

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Stefano Hatfield

Katharine Birbalsingh just says what many teachers are thinking

Katharine Birbalsingh, self-styled “strictest head teacher in Britain”, is one of the great polarisers in British society. It is almost impossible...

21.01.2024 3

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Stefano Hatfield

Customer service is surely designed to irritate – it must be

Why has the brilliant ITV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office struck such a deep nerve? It is ITV’s most-watched drama in a decade but this isn’t...

15.01.2024 20

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Stefano Hatfield

Joey Barton's public meltdown is being enabled by platforms like X

In one short week, the controversial former footballer and manager, Joey Barton, has gone from ranting against female pundits to placing football at...

07.01.2024 5

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Stefano Hatfield

Gillian Keegan and Steve Barclay, I have new year's resolutions for you

I was going to rage against the corrupt and corrosive honours system that allows the bumbling likes of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss to hand out baubles...

01.01.2024 8

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Stefano Hatfield

Carers are the unsung heroes of the holidays – this is how we can thank them

A year ago, my 91-year-old Ma died after a terrible weekend ina south London hospital. This is not the place to explore that horrendous last 72 hours...

26.12.2023 3

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Stefano Hatfield

Remember the name – Rebecca Welch

If you do not recognise the name Rebecca Welch, then by this weekend it should be impossible not to know who she is. Welch will become the first...

18.12.2023 3

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Stefano Hatfield

Boris Johnson wearing the Grimsby FC hat raises an important question

My teacher friend, a Grimsby Town supporter, was incandescent. For the second time in a year his hometown club was in the news. Back in January, it...

10.12.2023 5

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Stefano Hatfield

Teachers like me are walking a dangerous tightrope in Israel-Hamas discussions

The question that did not bode well for the article that my Year 7 pupil was proposing for the school magazine: “Sir, can I write an article about...

04.12.2023 8

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Stefano Hatfield

No one is truly offended by the word ‘shit’ in 2023

At a certain point in almost any football match, one of the obligatory away-fan chants will resound around the stadium: “This is a shithole, I want...

26.11.2023 1

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Stefano Hatfield

Inheritance tax is a mess – over to you, Mr Hunt

“Don’t grow up, it’s a trap!” We all know those birthday cards that make light of the weighty new responsibilities that come with leaving...

19.11.2023 1

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Stefano Hatfield

We had it right all along - we never needed self-service checkouts

Lost among all the distressing news headlines over the past week was a positive story: Booths, the supermarket chain described as the “northern...

12.11.2023 6

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Stefano Hatfield

The most loyal fans are being priced out of watching their football team – it’s a disgrace

I took part in arguably the world’s politest protest this weekend. In the 18th minute of Fulham’s match against Manchester United, Fulham fans...

05.11.2023 3

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Stefano Hatfield

The housing crisis is breeding a whole new generation of 'big babies'

We all know a few bamboccioni, don’t we? That’s the Italian word for “big babies”: men, and it’s almost always men, who still live in the...

29.10.2023 4

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Stefano Hatfield

We can't switch off and ignore the Israel-Gaza conflict. Others don't have a choice

Last week, I wrote about how my experiences of kibbutz life shaped my views on the seemingly intractable Israel-Gaza crisis. This week, I received...

22.10.2023 6

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Stefano Hatfield

I was awakened to the Israeli-Palestinian divide as a teen. Peace looks further away than ever

On my first day volunteering in an Israeli kibbutz as a callow youth, I was instructed to clean out the graveyard. Toiling in the Middle Eastern heat,...

15.10.2023 4

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Stefano Hatfield

Why I'm worried about commercial space travel

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but my friend Trevor is now an astronaut. Mr Beattie, the dictionary definition of an ebullient, working-class...

09.10.2023 1

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Stefano Hatfield

Eating out at local restaurants is not enough to save them from closure

My favourite local restaurant closed last week. Saigon Saigon had been serving upscale Vietnamese food to the residents of West London’s Hammersmith...

01.10.2023 10

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Stefano Hatfield

If Gen Z aren't exposed to different views, they won't succeed in the workplace

As the father of two Gen Z daughters, I read the headlines about Alex Mahon’s comments on the generation’s alleged lack of preparedness for the...

25.09.2023 3

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Stefano Hatfield

20mph speed limits will save lives – angry motorists should get a grip

I spent an afternoon with some very angry Welsh people recently. They weren’t complaining about their rugby team’s laboured performance against...

17.09.2023 6

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Stefano Hatfield

I get grief for wearing shoes and no socks at work, but what can teachers do when it’s so hot?

This past week of sweltering summer temperatures brought with it an unfortunate by-product. We Brits are unable to dress for warm weather in order to...

10.09.2023 5

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Stefano Hatfield

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